The World's Fastest Man on Land and a Bentley Mulsanne

Full Speed Ahead: Making the Flying B Really Fly

Most enthusiasts have an unbridled desire to experience ever more speed and power, but few people on the planet get to take it to the ultimate limits. Current land speed record-holder Andy Green is one of those people. We were with Green recently at the Bonneville Salt Flats to watch him take a stock Bentley Mulsanne past its claimed top speed -- and we got to ride along for one of the runs.

So why is Green running around Bonneville in a Mulsanne and not some tube on wheels going supersonic? As the first person to break the sound barrier on land back in 1997, Green was a natural to discuss the future of speed for Bentley's new series of short documentaries titled "Mulsanne Visionaries." The series highlights a handful of other prominent figures who share their vision of the future all while riding and driving in the Mulsanne.

Others featured in the series include Dirk Van Braeckel, car designer and past Head of Design and Concepts for Bentley, and FIA president and former Ferrari top dog Jean Todt. We hung with Green at Bonneville for the making of "The Future of Speed" segment to watch him do what he does best: go really, really fast. Until now, nobody's been in a car as fast as he has. The Royal Air Force Wing Commander is attempting to break Green's own 714-mph record next year by cracking the 1000-mph mark in the Bloodhound SSC. While the Mulsanne didn't break any Bonneville records, Green pushed the Flying B's flagship as fast as it could possibly go, as I found out from the backseat during one of his runs.

With a 6-mile stretch of a groomed runway on the salt flats (five flat out, with the sixth mile to slow down), Green waits for the signal. "OK, Andy, you have a clear race track. When you're ready, let us know.""Andy, all copied, rolling in 30 seconds," he says into his radio before tossing it back to me. He makes his requisite checks: "OK, let me just double-check you're both strapped in?"

"Sport, sport, temperatures are good. We'll go!" The Mulsanne's 6.75-liter twin-turbo V-8 roars as it rolls into the throttle, with traction control giving way a little after 70 mph. Before we hit the half-mile mark we're already at 125 mph, and Green says we'll be at the end of the stretch in less than four minutes. While I expected loud noises and a bumpy ride, the Mulsanne was quiet and Cool Whip-smooth on the salt. It held its composure well, thanks in large part to Green's expert helmsmanship, even when the rear end started to wiggle slightly from the huge amount of air resistance. Despite the hot sun softening up the flats, Green managed to hit 189 mph with me on board. After several more runs, he ultimately hit 191 mph, easily besting the Mulsanne's claimed 185 mph top speed. So what did Mr. Green think of all this? We sat down for a quick chat:Motor Trend: Why did you agree to do Mulsanne Visionaries?

Andy Green: Honestly, I did it for a little bit of fun -- taking a Bentley and just doing a little bit of filming and driving it at a high speed, it's a great opportunity. Who wouldn't want to do something like this? Coming out to Bonneville just makes it that much more special. I haven't been to Bonneville for the last couple of years, and I miss coming here. Just look around you. The scenery is unlike anywhere else in the world. It's the spiritual home of the land speed record. There was a 50-year period from the 1930s to 1980s when every record was set here -- it's an amazing place. I'm just here to talk about something I believe in, and to take up a challenge for the sake of it.MT: You had never driven a Mulsanne until filming. What did you think of it?

AG: I understand high-performance vehicles and how well quality engineering works. A 2.7-ton luxury vehicle like the Mulsanne that delivers so much power through the rear wheels and take itself this fast across the salt -- it handles so well and so predictably. You can drive this car across the States comfortably, get here, put another 10 pounds of air in the tires, drive it 189 mph, let the 10 pounds out of the tires again just so they wear better, and then drive it to New York -- I don't know any other car with so much luxury and comfort that can do that. My impression of it as a piece of engineering is that it's remarkable.MT: Did you think the Mulsanne was going to go faster?I was a little worried that these guys would be disappointed, because they were talking about 180 mph for the top speed. With over 5000 feet of elevation here, and this low grip surface -- the same sort of grip you get on wet tarmac -- you don't set off to do your very fastest speeds at altitude on a wet road. So I was thinking around 170 mph might be a realistic target. We actually got up faster than what they said max speed was going to be. The fact that the car is doing its full speed out here, 5000 feet on a slippery surface -- that really surprised me. I wasn't expecting it to do that.Check out Andy Green in action and discover his vision of the future of speed, and don't forget to check out the rest of the Bentley visionaries here.